Weapons From Sand
by carlmuz
Summary: They are from different worlds. She's the Weapon Mistress from Heaven, he's the container of the demon Shukaku. But when these two collide, this is what they call Magic! TentenxGaara, GaaraxTenten Please read and review!
1. Mission together!

Hi there, everyone! I'm starting this story, because I personally think it would be interesting to see Tenten and Gaara together! But I don't know how it will turn out so I'm going to need all of your help. Please review!

Thank you very much for spending your time to read on my fic!

Disclaimer: I do not own naruto....

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It was not everyday that Tenten late for practice. Only one particular day she did, all because she had an exhausting mission with Ino the day before. And by the time she arrived at her team's usual meeting place, all she saw was Lee and a crying Sakura waving over at Naruto, Kiba, Chouji, Shikamaru and Neji who had just set off to recover Sasuke back.

Tenten was very angry, because she wanted to join the mission; she wanted to be a part of the village's true hero! And to make up for the mission she had just missed, Tenten double fold her training routines even though she had to train alone. Lee had to recover from his injuries and Gai will have to look over him. And Neji was out there, fighting Orochimaru's subordinates.

While she was deep in concentration practicing her taijutsu at her team's usual training ground near the village's gates, a familiar sight of three people standing at the edge of the training ground caught her attention. With a last strike that broke a chunk out of the large training post, Tenten inhaled deeply and turned to face them. "Can I help you?" her voice was calm and firm.

Her deep brown eyes studied the Sand Siblings one by one. The only female in the trio was as witty as ever. Her blond hair was pulled into four ponytails with her signature fan strapped up behind her. Tenten could never forget the time she was defeated by Temari in the Chuunin Exams Preliminaries not so long ago. Her outfit had changed a little though but still sported the same quirky style of dressing. Kankurou was as same as she remembered him to be back at the Chuunin Exam. Only his face paint had changed a bit.

But the last member of the trio caught her interest greatly. He had changed tremendously from the last time she had seen him. Instead of the short-sleeved shirt he used to wear, he now had on a maroon long sleeved shirt which went well with her red hair, that made him looked more…handsome. 'Oh, no! Did I just thought Sabaku no Gaara is handsome?' Tenten thought frantically.

"Hey, Bun-girl can you lead us to the Hokage's office? We still didn't get the roads around here," Kankurou shouted, though the second part was more like talking to himself. Tenten raised an eyebrow before deciding that the break will not harm a bit. With a snap of her finger, the weapons scattered across the field flung towards her and stored itself in the giant scroll she was holding up. In just a minute's time she was already by their side, guiding them through the busy streets of Konoha.

Apparently Kankurou was so bored, because he had decided that nothing better can be done other than messing with the bun haired kunoichi. "Can you hurry up? At your speed we will reach there in a thousand light years!" Tenten was very pissed off by the remark. "It is a surprise you even know the word "hurry". I am just afraid you can't keep up with us if we go down at a higher speed," to her surprise, Gaara snorted. 'Hey, I thought he supposed to be emotionless. Well, he never ceased to surprise me,'.

"Oh yeah, are you challenging me Bun-girl?".

"You feel challenged Make Up-Boy? Please don't, you are not worth it,".

"Fine then, if you will not race Kankurou then race me," Temari stepped in and handed her fan to Kankurou, smacking him in the process.

"Hey, I want to race in the first place!".

"Heading north straight ahead, up to the Hokage's office,".

"Bring it on!" and with that both the kunoichi dashed down the road leaving Kankurou and Gaara behind dumbfounded. "Great, now how are we going to the Hokage's office?" Kankurou threw Temari's fan behind his back and started walking lazily. "Didn't you hear what she said? North straight ahead, up to the Hokage's office. Let's go!" both of them also broke into a run.

* * *

Tsunade set down her cup of sake with a satisfied feeling. It always felt so good to have some drink after a long day of hard work. But her serenity was about to be disturbed when two kunoichis broke into her window, followed by two teenage boys. "That's another window to be put into the tab," she muttered to herself. The kunoichis quickly got up and glared at each other.

"Tenten, thank you for guiding the Sand Siblings here. You may leave," Tenten casted a look at the Sand Siblings before turning back to the Godaime Hokage and stepped forward. "Hokage-sama, I demand to go with the others to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke back.

"I understand but there are too many people sent. We still need other shinobis in this village," Tsunade was firm to stand up to her decision.

"Tsunade-sama, I request for Tenten here to go," Gaara suddenly spoke, surprising everyone present. Tsunade stared him down, but he was not the person that easily deterred by a stare like that.

"I'm so sorry, but I can't let her go," Tenten nodded in frustration and retreated. She clenched her fist and began determining to train extra hard to make up for the mission.

Suddenly, Shizune rushed in. "Hokage-sama, Rock Lee had left the village to join Naruto-kun and the others!" Tenten gasped at the news. Lee, he could be in danger! Tsunade slammed her fist on the table and gave an order. "Tenten, here is your new mission! Bring Rock Lee back to Konoha alive and as less injury as possible!" Tenten smiled and answered spiritedly. "Yes, sir!".

* * *

Tenten touched Lee's face gently. "You idiot, why did you run out here on your own? You could get killed!" her teammate just grinned weakly. "And for once keep away your Good Guy Pose," she put his medicine bottle in his hand and jumped forward to join the shinobis that were able to walk, her self, Kankurou, Temari, Shikamaru, and Gaara.

Temari was busy conversing with Shikamaru, Kankurou wass bickering with Kiba about who was the harder to defeat Ukon or Sakon, so that just left Gaara. "Hey, thanks," she yelped but soon berated herself for being so nervous. "For what?" he replied with a quick glance.

"For backing me up to go with you guys on this mission. It meant so much to me. Fighting real enemies, that was a great fight!" great, now she ranted like an immature girl.

"You were great back then, battling him head on with your katanas," he complimented, and surprised her slightly. She never thought Gaara knew how to compliment other people.

"Thank you, but you were better than me. With your sand and stuff. Maybe we should train sometime. I really need to work on my speed and my strength, you know, to handle the weapons better," Tenten tried to calm herself down, and smiled.

"Okay. Tomorrow at five o'clock?" he enquired, looking at her for answer.

"Sure, Five o'clock where I trained the other day," she returned his gaze, unaware that a small blush crept to her cheeks.

"Hey you lovebirds, hurry up already! Gaara, watch it, you nearly dropped Kiba. On second thought, Gaara drop that Dog-Breath and let him walk on his own!" Kankurou shouted as they arrived at the Main Gate. "Shut up, Kankurou! You're just jealous because you have to walk all the way bak to Konoha!" Kiba returned it with amazing volume, considering he was badly injured. Tenten was blushing madly but even so, she was looking forward to their training tomorrow.

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Well, do you guys like it? I am going to update real soon, so don't forget the second chapter of "Weapons from Sand"!

Please review and tell me how do you feel. Please..please!

Thank you very much and a very good day!

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	2. So, the training begins!

Hey there, everyone! Hope you will enjoy reading the second chapter of weapons from sand! And Thank you to LuckyGenius for the first review for this story!

Tenten and Gaara started their training together, how will it turned out?

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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Tenten threw away her blanket when the sound of her alarm clock rang throughout her small apartment. She stretched her muscles out and then bent down to pick up the blanket before putting it on her bed neatly. Her living compartment was not really what she would call neat and tidy, but it was still appropriate. On the walls were lines and lines of weapon put up for display.

Not to mention the drawers, the cabinets, under the table, Tenten practically put her weapons everywhere. Neji, Lee and Gai-sensei came to her apartment once and nearly got their heads chopped off when Lee accidentally set off the strings that held a large axe on its place. Needless to say, she was considering putting an "Enter at your own Risk" signboard on her front door.

It wasn't time to relax right now, she had to go to the training field and fast. She jumped into the shower and in a record time of five minutes, she was all set to leave the house. "Hey there, Tenten!" the brown haired girl had no enough time to reply on her neighbour's greeting, she merely raised her hand and jumped onto the roof of an adjacent building. 'Three minutes to five, can I make it in time?' she pulled on her fingerless gloves and applied chakra to her feet.

Finally, she made it to the training field just when her watch struck five o'clock. "And I'm here!" she declared excitedly only to be greeted with an empty stare from the redheaded Suna shinobi. "Uh, hi. You sure are early today!" she chirped unusually high pitched. Gaara got up from leaning against the tree trunk and walked towards the training posts she was practicing her taijutsu some days before.

"Actually, I am on time. You on the other hand were late for fifteen minutes," he said coolly and set down his gourd. She didn't get it; she was there on time, right? Tenten looked at her watch again. 'Dang, it ran out of battery!' she hung her head in shame. The first day of their training and she screwed up, just great. Tenten rolled her eyes.

"Gaara-san," she ran towards him, her mind began rearranging words. "Sorry for my tardiness, I didn't realize my watch had ran out of battery," she explained, feeling a bit scared that he might flared up his deadly sand and crush her on the spot. To her surprise, he threw a kunai at her direction, which she easily deflected with one of her own kunais.

"Enough talking, we are already fifteen minutes short of spar time," he caught his kunai with a sly grin on his face. She cracked into a confident smile of her own. "Right then, let's start," she summoned a pair of katanas from her scroll and got into stance. He moved forward, and she copied his movement. When both of them were near enough, she slashed her katana but was quickly blocked by his sand. Tenten flipped over him and tried to attack him from behind. Gaara easily jumped away and turned to face her again. 'This is going to be interesting,' he thought as he commanded his sand to attack the bun haired girl.

Both were panting heavily by the time Gaara's watch struck noon. Tenten snapped her finger, and all her weapons that were lying around the training field flew back into the scroll. Her knees were shaking like mad; she could barely stand up properly. Gaara was proven to be a tough opponent, even without his sand filled gourd.

"Need help?" she gratefully accepted his hand to stand on her feet. His skin felt oddly coarse, but it still felt nice against her rough hands. Gaara was sweating heavily with some of his sand armour cracked here and there, his breathing was heavy. She was basically the same, but her cuts and wounds were actually bleeding. "Let's head for Ichiraku's. I'm starving!" she pulled on his hand, motioning him to follow.

They arrived at Ichiraku's and were not surprised to find a still-in-cast Naruto gulping down bowls of ramen. "Hiya, Gaara! Tenten! Where are you guys from? My, aren't you look bad, Tenten! Gaara was being mean on you? Remember Gaara, we're not finished yet," Tenten considered it to be an achievement for the blonde shinobi to talk that much with a full mouth.

"We're just finishing sparring, Naruto. And that's why we headed here, because both of us are hungry and we will surely be kicked out if we head to somewhere else. Now, aren't you supposed to be in hospital? Someone had come over to fetch you," Tenten sat on one of the stools and gestured at a very angry Shizune.

Both of them watched as Shizune dragged him away straight to the hospital. "So, what would you like to have, Gaara-san?" Tenten looked at the menu before glancing sideways at him. "Whatever you are eating," she nodded slowly. Well, that made it easier. "Ayame-neechan, two bowls of miso ramen, please," she ordered and set down the menu. He was staring off space. "So, err…," she tried to strike a conversation. "You fought great back then," both of them said at the same time. "Thank you," they said in unison again. Ayame set down two bowls in front of them. "Let's eat," she finally said. "Good idea," he replied, and both of them eat in silence.

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Gaara closed the door behind him and set his gourd in one corner. "So how's your date, little brother?" Kankurou sprang to his side eagerly asking. "Was it fun, or was it dull?" Temari raised an eyebrow, trying to get him to talk. "What are you talking about? I don't understand," he answered sincerely. Seriously, his brother and sister freaked him out sometimes. "Gaara, when a boy and a girl spending time together doing something in privacy, that is called dating. So, how was yours with Tenten?" Temari asked, putting an arm across Gaara's shoulder. "That is called dating? Not training?" Gaara asked her back again, clearly confused. "Yeah, sort of like Temari does with Shikamaru all the time," Temari glared daggers at Kankurou. "You are so dead, Kankurou!" true enough, they had to go hungry for the night when Temari threw their dinner at the puppet user.

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Gaara walked down to the training field at the same time the next day. Tenten was already there clearly waiting for him. "Tenten, you're early today," he noted. She scratched the back of her head cheekily. "Well, I kind of stab my alarm clock with my kunai so I had no idea at what time I woke up today," he blinked once at her statement, before turning away to hide the small smile that made its way to his lips. 'One interesting fellow, this girl,' he thought as he got ready to start their spar.

Exactly four hours later, Gaara decided that they should stop. Tenten pulled back the strings that she used to control her weapons and landed not far from him. "What is wrong, Gaara-san? It is still another three hours to noon," he did not answer, but motioned for her to follow him. The Weapon Mistress just followed him without questions, as they walked down the busy streets of Konoha, fresh from battle. Quite a number of people stared them as they walked passed by, but neither Tenten nor Gaara cared about it. Abruptly, he stopped in front of an old looking building.

"Are you sure about this, Gaara-san?" Tenten asked him with slight surprise. He tugged on her wrist and they both entered the building. Many clocks of all designs were hung on the wall, and rows of watches were put on display under the glass counter. "Pick one, I'm paying for it," she was bewildered when he urged her on, pushing her forward slightly.

Did Sabaku no Gaara had just told her to pick a watch, and he will pay for it? She looked at him with wide eyes. "Seriously?" he nodded and stepped next to her in front of the counter. "How about that one?" he pointed at a watch with black coloured watch, with silver needles and silver lining. Tenten looked and immediately agreed. It was simple but beautiful, and goes well against her skin. He took out his wallet and paid for the watch, before walking out of the shop.

"Gaara-san, thank you very much! You don't have to do all this you know," she had still not finished admiring her new watch. "Tenten, are we dating?".

"We are what? Why did you ask such question?". She felt her face grew warm.

"Temari said when a boy and a girl spend time together doing something in privacy, it is called dating. I'm a boy, you're a girl, and we sparred together, away from other people. Isn't that called dating?" he tilted his head slightly to the left.

"Well, I suppose it is," she stuttered and looked down at her toes.

"Temari said when dating, the boy usually buys something nice for the girl," he went further on.

"Oh, thank you. This watch is really nice," she began fiddling with the straps.

"Kankurou said after a date, the couple usually kiss each other good bye," Gaara said innocently.

"He said WHAT?"

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Well, will they kiss? Wait for the third chapter! Until then, please review.. Thank you very much to all of you!


	3. Our good time!

Hello everyone! The third chapter of "Weapons from Sand" had arrived, and this time it is a bit longer than the chapter before. I would like to dedicate this chapter to those who had reviewed the previous chapters, **LuckyGenius** and **The sun in the Sky, **thank you very much for your reviews! Also to those who have been waiting for this chapter anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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"They kiss each other goodbye," Gaara repeated calmly and stepped closer to her.

"Gaara-san, we don't have to do everything your brother said!" she said frantically.

He blinked twice before turning around and walked down the street. Tenten felt bad about this so she ran up to him and caught up with the Sand shinobi. "Gaara-san, I don't mean any offense. But I don't really think we should kiss right here, right now," she chose her words carefully, afraid that she might hurt his feelings. No matter how opened up he had been since the Chunin exam, he was still a dangerous shinobi to be messing with.

He nodded his head slowly and pointed at the Ichiraku's stall. Tenten smiled a little and pulled him by the arm into it. "Name it; what would you like to have? My treat!" her voice sounded a little higher than usual as they sat next to each other on the counter. "Really, are you sure Tenten-chan? That is so generous of you!" Gaara was literally pushed out of his seat by Naruto as the hyperactive ninja appeared next to Tenten, looking at her hopefully.

"Not you, Naruto. I will have to spend a year salary if I am to treat you to ramen," Naruto scratched the back of his neck cheekily, but it was not long before Gaara's sand kicked him out of the stall and the red haired sat back in his place. "If you want someone to treat you, find your own date, Naruto," he said emotionlessly, not noticing Tenten's reaction to his words.

"Wait, are you dating Tenten Gaara-san?" Sakura who was with Naruto asked him. "I'm a boy, she's a girl, and we sparred together, away from other people in privacy. I suppose we are dating," he said simply before reaching for the menu. Tenten was blushing furiously beside him, hiding her tomato red face behind a menu. Why did he have to be so straightforward? She flipped through the menu, not even turning around when she waved Naruto and Sakura goodbye.

"I never knew you are a shy person, Tenten," Gaara noted and put down the menu. "Let's just stick to miso ramen, shall we?" he ordered for both him and Tenten. The older of the two laughed uneasily and began playing with a kunai from her kunai pouch. "So, Gaara-san. How is your village?" he looked at her for a second before replying.

"Everything was fine. We are currently trying to stabilize the politics there, seeming that the Fourth Kazekage was murdered by Orochimaru not so long ago and we don't have a new leader yet. The elders are running the village now while they are selecting a new Kazekage. I'm waiting for their decision right now," he said with a small smile in the corner of his lips. She couldn't really understand what he meant by that. "I don't understand," she told him. He glanced at her before turning to Ayame who set down two bowls in front of them. "I'll tell you after this. Let's eat first," she pouted but had no choice other than to comply with him.

Again, they ate in silence. But this time, the silence between them felt nice and comforting. Tenten tried to look at him from the corner of her eyes and found that he was doing the same thing. Brown orbs met with jade green eyes and she turned away, slurping the ramen to hide the blush on her cheeks.

She then turned to look at him again, and he was still looking at her with a playful smile on his lips. He was clearly amused by her embarrassment. Tenten then smiled at him, admiring his handsome features. She was too caught up in staring at him that she accidentally knocked her bowl. Hot soup fall to her lap and she shrieked in surprise. His eyes widened slightly before cracking into a low chuckle. Tenten looked down at herself. The front of her top and her pants were wet, and smelled slightly of miso.

But his chuckles proved to be more surprising to her. 'He looked so innocent when he laughs,' she thought to herself and laughed along with him. Ayame and Teuchi looked at both of them in confusion. Gaara finished the last of his ramen and set down some money on the counter. "Thank you, Ayame-neechan. And I apologize for the mess. It was so clumsy of me," Tenten waved before walking out of the stall.

Gaara appeared next to her and looked at her up and down. "I really need to change my clothes right now or I'll be attracting the dogs around here. See you later," the bun haired girl waved good-naturedly at the sand shinobi, but he was quick to wrap his sand around her wrist. "Wait, does this mean our date end here?". "I suppose so. But don't worry, we can still see each other tomorrow," his grip went tighter, but still gentle enough not to hurt her.

"We are going home tomorrow, me and my siblings. And I wonder if we can ever meet again," he looked down to his feet, playing the pebbles with one of them. Tenten frowned immediately. She didn't want Gaara to leave so soon. "Look, let's get to my apartment and let me change into something cleaner. Then we will head out to some movie before going out for dinner. How does that sound? And by the way you haven't told me about the whole Kazekage thing," he released his sand and agreed to her suggestion.

"Let's use the roof top. I really don't want to risk people's attention to my clothes," they hopped up and leapt through the roofs until they arrived at her small apartment. She invited him in and asked him to wait in the living room while she changed. Tenten put on the best piece of clothing she got, a knee length midnight blue Chinese dress which she paired with a pair of black strapped sandals.

Her long, straight brown hair was pulled into a single bun that she kept in place with a pair of hair sticks. (Sorry, I don't know what it is called.) She stepped out of her room, fiddling with her sleeves nervously, and waiting for his respond. When he didn't, she stepped closer to him and asked. "So, what do you think?" she spun around and faced him again. "I thought that if we are going to make this a date, it would be better if I dress up properly," she explained.

Gaara stood up and held out his hand to her. "Let's just hope no ramen would be spilled on it," her eyes widened.

* * *

Tenten just couldn't believe just how fun their night was. They went to the cinema, and watched the latest action movie in town. Coincidentally, they came across Kurenai and Asuma, whom were blushing bright red when she greeted them. Then Gaara and Tenten dined in a newly opened restaurant, with Gaara paying after Tenten paid for their movie tickets.

Currently, they were walking in the park heading for her apartment. Tenten didn't know this side of Gaara before. She had thought him to be a cold blooded murdered and loved the taste of blood. Not once did she ever think of him as a gentle, caring and even…lovable person. She stole a glance at the teenager beside her; the kanji for love that was etched on his forehead glistened under the moonlight.

They reached her apartment quick enough but she was hesitant to go in. Truth to be told, Tenten didn't want to part with him yet. Not when she was eager to learn more about him. "Gaara-san, why don't you come in? We still haven't got a lot of nice conversations yet," she gestured at her couch, and stepped inside. He was hesitant at first but eventually followed her and sat at the other end of the couch. "What about the Kazekage deal? We don't get the chance to talk about it at the movie, or the dinner. Perhaps we can talk about it now?" she started the conversation between them.

"Well, the elders are considering whether to make me the new Kazekage or not," she gasped inaudibly at the news. "Are you serious? But why? Wouldn't it be too much of a responsibility for you? You have been nominated as the Fifth Kazekage? That's great! Does that mean you will no longer have missions here in Konoha?" he answered her questions patiently one by one.

"To protect your village, huh? You sounded so much like Naruto sometimes. Why would the elders reluctant to name you the new Kazekage? After all, you are the Kazekage's son and you have so many abilities that could rival him, and you wanted to become the leader so that you can protect the people, not because you want power," she said thoughtfully.

"Tenten, before I answer any further I want to ask you something," she was caught off guard when he shifted closer to her and took both her hands in his. Once again, his eyes pierced through her and penetrated her soul with just a stare. "Do you trust me?" he asked seriously, staring her intently. The girl exhaled a little louder before nodding her head. She sensed a strain in his voice, as though he was hoping for something.

Gaara inhaled deeply. "I am the container of the One-Tailed Demon, the Shukaku. My mother was sacrificed in order to seal this monster within me, hoping that I will become a precious weapon for the village. I was born a monster, Tenten. Everyone fears a monster, hate even,".

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How will Tenten react to this? Wait for the next chapter to find out, I guess. Please do review everyone! Make me happy today by pushing the review button and leave your comment on the story and I will try to do better next time.

Thank you to everyone who spent their time to read this story and Have a Good Day!


	4. a monster? I don't think so!

Hi there, everyone. I'm so sorry for the long delay, but I finally managed to post this chapter. I hope you happy with it, and I really hope you guys have a nice day!

Disclaimer: I do not own naruto.

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Tenten went wide-eyed and gasped inaudibly, still staring at his serious face. It took her full minute to turn away from him, bowing her face to keep him from seeing it. "Tenten," he called carefully, though she didn't miss the hurt tone he had in it. "Tenten, I need you to look at me," he pleaded her, placing a hand on hers clasped one.

Tenten shook her head, and tried to pull away her hands. He was hurt by this, feeling so betrayed. She said she trusted him, did she? Was he wrong to tell about the Shukaku to her? "Tenten," he tried calling her again but she remained silent.

"You hate me too, don't you Tenten? You hate me because I'm a monster!" he went into his rage and stood up, facing her. Tenten quivered slightly, though she still had not looked at him. It hurt him even more when she refused to look at him, compared to the nasty looks she received from the people because of his monster.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, Tenten!" he snarled, and almost instantly his sand made its way to her head, forcing her to look at him. Tenten yelped in surprise but didn't fight, knowing that it was useless to do so. Gaara was angry at first, because he had expected her to fight, then he could crush her with his sand for refusing to look at him. But then something caught his attention. She was crying.

True enough; tears were cascading down her cheeks from her now slightly red eyes. "I'm so sorry, Gaara-san," she said through the tears. His sand slowly released her neck as he dropped back to his seat. "What?" was all he managed to reply.

"I'm sorry for thinking of you of a heartless person, without trying to find out the reason why. I'm sorry for being too quick in judging you. I'm sorry for failing to realize that you are hurting. Inside here," she slowly reached out and put her palm over his chest, exactly on his heart. Gaara's eye widened slightly upon the contact, and he slowly looked down at her hand. The pain he was feeling just now just washed away, like sand being washed away in the sea.

"It hurts much, isn't it Gaara? Even if you're not wounded but it still hurts," she continued as she scooted closer to him, her other hand pushed back his red hair to reveal the kanji of love on his forehead clearly. He just watched as she gently touched the character and closed her eyes again, making more teardrops fall. Instinctively, he used his thumb to wipe away her tears. This action startled her a bit but she relaxed. Tenten pursed her lips together and inhaled deeply, mustering all courage she can before she said it, the thing she had been planning to say ever since Gaara said that he was going to leave tomorrow.

"Gaara, I want you to know how awesome the…dates, we had together and I really enjoyed myself. Thank you for the sparring sessions, it was really meaningful to me because even though it was not for quite along time, I learnt a lot from it. Thank you for being so nice to me, and showing to me that even monsters do love and care for someone else. But you're not a monster aren't you Gaara? You said a monster is feared and hated by others, but I…love you," she stuttered the last part. Tenten was sure she was blushing furiously right now.

After all, she had never imagined her first love to be that way. She didn't imagine it to be her to make the first move, even if she wasn't as shy as Hinata, she still wanted the guy to say it first. But most of all, she had never imagined it to be Sabaku no Gaara of all people. She had dreamed of it to be Neji most of the times, but he was too cold for his own good. Sometimes Shino or Shikamaru entered the picture, and to her horror Lee once appeared in her dream, but never Gaara.

"Pardon?" she gasped in disbelieve. She had to repeat it again, no way? Maybe, repeating only the last part will make him understand. "I…love you, Gaara," she said, more clearly this time and smiled at him. Her words and smile astonished him greatly, that he moved closer to her and hesitantly wrapped his arms around her. "Then, is this the right time to kiss?" he asked suddenly, making her laugh on the spot.

"I guess so," she replied and pulled him in for a kiss. She snaked her arms around his neck, while his hands still lingered around her waist. After a while, they both broke out from the kiss, taking a breath. "Was that any good?" Tenten smiled again at his question. For someone who killed numerous people before, he can be quite innocent and naïve sometimes. Surprisingly, he was quite good at kissing. Or was the two of them were really bad at it?

"I don't know, it is my first kiss," she answered shyly and looked away. "Sadly, it is my 37th kiss and still I don't know how is my kissing," her brown eyes nearly popped out of the sockets hearing his solemn remark. 37 kisses? He got to be kidding!

"37, Gaara? That seemed way too many," she said nervously to him. His face caught in concentration as he sat thinking with his finger on his chin. "Is it, I knew I shouldn't have ask Kankurou to help me with it," he muttered but she still did hear him. "Don't tell me you practiced it with your brother!" it was outrageous, even if he did too innocent. "Well, I know I went a bit too far," he scratched his cheek and looked away from her.

**_flashback_**

"Kankurou, I need your help with kissing," Gaara entered his room after he knocked. "Sure, come on," Kankurou grinned mischievously and puckered his lips. Gaara cringed inwardly and quickly built a wall of sand separating him from his brother. "After you put on your shirt, and quit making that disgusting face," it was quite annoying to hear Kankurou burst out laughing at this.

"Now, first and foremost, practice makes perfect. Let's see, how about this?" Kankurou took his puppet and hold him out to Gaara. He just stared blankly at the puppet. "I would never kiss your puppet. Who know what poison I could have from that," Kankurou put it away with a sad expression and began thinking of something else. "Then, how about this?" he made a few hand seals and POOF! He transformed into a girl version of him. The girl was as tall as Gaara, which he regarded as an insult to his height. She had brown hair just like Kankurou, and wore the same smug grin he had on earlier.

"I'm not going to kiss you, Kankurou even if you are a girl," Gaara replied crossly with an annoyed look on his face. Finally, he decided to practice it with one of his sand clone henged into a girl. As expected, the girl looked exactly like him plus two high pigtails on either side of his head. But it was hard, literally. Gaara had no idea how many times he hurt himself in the process, because of his clone's coarse lips.

**_end of flashback_**

Tenten nearly rolled on the floor hearing his story of how he practiced kissing. It was cute yet funny in the same time. Gaara sighed slightly and stood. "Thank you, Tenten. For everything," he said before disappearing with grains of sand. Tenten stared at the spot he last standing for quite a long time before she retreated to bed.

Gaara was looking behind them for at least the fifth time, Temari noticed. "Are you looking for someone, Gaara?" she asked and looked behind also. Her brother brushed it off with a shrug and picked up his pace, leaving his older siblings behind. She threw a questioning look at Kankurou, who was having greater time playing with his fingers than hearing what she was saying.

Her curiosity grew when a girl with brown eyes and matching brown hair in two buns raced down towards them bringing along a wrapped package in her hands. She recognized it instantly as Tenten, with a smile on her face. "Gaara," since the night before, she had dropped of the suffix she used to address him. "I figured that we will not be meeting again in a long time so, here. Open it once you arrived at Suna," she held out the wrapped package to him, smiling warmly to him.

Gaara was reluctant, but after some nudging from Temari and Kankurou's eyebrows raised suggestively, he moved forward and accepted it. "Arigatou, Tenten," he said and tucked the package safely between the belt that hold his gourd and his own body. Tenten then turned to Temari and Kankurou, bowing respectfully.

"Arigatou for helping Konoha, someday somehow we will find a way to repay you," she said politely before turning back to Gaara. "I will not forget you, because I have this," she held up her hand and showed the watch he bought for her, and a small keychain of a dove dangling from it. He felt that he needed to do something so that they both will not forget each other. Gaara moved forward and embraced her, which she returned almost instantly. "I…love you too," he whispered quietly into her ears before letting go.

"Will you look at that, our little boy is growing up. Reeling in the girl I have my eyes on," Kankurou said to his sister, who was waiting anxiously for someone. A certain lazy bum, one of the smartest ninja of Konoha, who found woman to be troublesome, yet she was still waiting for him to appear. 'I will be troublesome if he didn't drag himself right here right now, that Shikamaru!' she clamped her fists.

"Troublesome, did you say something Temari?" wow, that was fast! Temari approached him, leaving Kankurou standing alone. "Man, I wish I have someone to say goodbye to," he said to no one in particular, dragging his feet to the front gate. He was a good a hundred meters from the gate when Gaara and Temari finally caught up, and he was literally dragging his feet. It seemed that both his siblings found it hard to leave Konoha. 'I wonder why?' he thought sarcastically.

Tenten watched as the three siblings vanished from sight before turning to Shikamaru who was watching them also. "It's funny sometimes to have your heart fall at unlikely places, isn't it?" Tenten said unconsciously, earning a lazy look from Shikamaru. "What are you trying to say, actually?" he asked her back. She raised an eyebrow before shaking her head. "Nothing. Just ignore it," she said quickly so he waved her goodbye.

"Ne, Shikamaru. Want to join me for breakfast? I have some extra money to spend but I have no one right now. Neji and Lee are both in the hospital and Gai-sensei is away on a mission," she offered him, in which he accepted after pausing for a moment to think.

* * *

Well, finally Tenten and Gaara confessed their true feelings. I wonder what will happen next? Guess I have to hurry up and finish the next chapter immediately!

Ja ne, oh and thank you to all those who spent their time reading, or liking and or even better reviewing this story! Have a super-duper day!


	5. A new mission begins!

Hello, everyone. Sorry for not updating for so long! Hope you guys enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

Tenten searched for Neji's name on the board, trying to find his room's number. Lee stood patiently next to her, also searching for the Hyuuga's name. "If you are looking for Neji's room, it is next to Chouji's," both of them turned to find Shikamaru standing by Ino, with the Yamanaka holding a large bouquet of flowers.

"Yeah, come with us. We might as well drop by to visit Neji as well," she invited with a smile, beckoning for them to come along. "Sure, thank you. How is Chouji by the way?" Tenten went ahead to walk side-by-side with her, Shikamaru and Lee lagged behind. "Ah, the beauty of friendship. How youthful is the bond!" Lee sighed dramatically, to Shikamaru's annoyance.

They arrived quite quickly, and parted ways. In the room, Neji was the only patient and by the look of it, he was not at all happy to be stuck in the hospital. "Neji, how are you feeling?" she walked up to him and changed the flower from the vase on his bedside table. "Better, Shizune-san said I might get discharge today," he slowly sat up, holding his still bandaged abdomen.

"We're really glad to hear that! Gai-sensei will return from his mission tomorrow, and the four of us will continue training again! Isn't that wonderful?" Tenten laughed spontaneously at Lee's enthusiasm, Neji gave a small smirk. 'He hasn't changed a bit,' he thought before letting his gaze fall on Tenten.

She looked happier than ever, laughing at even Lee's lame jokes. What had happened on the week he had spent the time in the intensive care unit? "Neji?" Tenten suddenly called to him when she noticed he was spacing out. Was he staring her down? She touched her face to see if she got something on her face.

"Neji, you have been staring at Tenten? You might want to be careful now that she had Gaara-san as her boyfriend, he might kill you in jealousy," Neji turned to look at the taijutsu master sharply. "Boyfriend?" Tenten also looked at Lee in shock. From where did he know about her Gaara? "Yeah, Naruto-kun and my youthful Sakura-san had told me they saw Gaara-san and Tenten on a date," Lee just have to blab more about it, and finally Tenten had it enough.

"Enough of it, Lee. I think Neji will want to have a rest before Shizune-san comes again to check on him," she tried to cover her nervousness by patting Lee's shoulder several times, hoping he will get her true intention. "But, don't you want to tell Neji about your date? Or the ki-" before he could say the word kiss, the bun-haired girl clamped her hand over his mouth and pulled him towards the door.

"Listen to me; I want to give Neji one of my books so he can read it when he gets bored. Can you run to my house and fetch the novel on the shelves; any novels should be fine," she said urgently before slamming the door. "I don't know you are into novels, Tenten," Neji said quietly, looking out of the window.

"I don't. It just will keep Lee away for a while. Has a rest okay, Neji? I'll see if I can get Shizune-san to check on you right now," she stammered and began to turn to open the door. "I see you no longer comfortable being in my presence, Tenten," he finally raised his face to look at her, with a small frown. She let her hands fall to her side before turning to face him. "I'm so sorry, Neji. It just feels awkward after… Well, you know the mission," she apologized, walking up to him and slowly sat on the chair by his bed.

"No need to. You have done nothing wrong," he replied after a while. After that silence dropped between them. "Tenten, can you fetch Shizune-san for me?" he then asked her quite formally, in which she gladly complied. When she left the room, Neji looked at the flowers again, before he slowly curved a sad smile.

* * *

Tenten fall onto her mattress in a heap. That day's training was a tiring one, but come to think of it her team was the team that had the hardest training of all. No surprise at all, with Gai as your sensei and Lee and Neji as your team mate. Sometimes, she took pride of being a member of the renowned Taijutsu Team. The younger ninjas, and even some older ones bowed their head slightly whenever they passed by her.

It was one of those rare trainings that they have to stop to allow Neji to catch his breath. Usually she was the one who needed such attention. She rolled over on her stomach and reached for the watch Gaara bought her that she had placed carefully on her nightstand. "Ne, Gaara. I wonder how you are doing right now?" she asked no one in particular, before giggling.

She was so not herself whenever she was thinking of the Suna shinobi. It had been a month since she last saw him before he returned to the village. Tenten wondered if she will ever get to see him again, since the distance between their villages are three days of journey. Perhaps she can see him again if they got a mission together again.

She was just about to drift to sleep when suddenly she heard a knock on her window. Kakashi was standing outside her window, clearly waiting for her to open it. "What is it, Kakashi-sensei?" she asked as soon as she unlocked her window, climbing out of it as well. "New mission, it is an urgent. Hokage-sama wanted to see us immediately," she didn't need to be told twice.

A good shinobi was always prepared for anything, so she just grabbed her mission backpack and some scrolls and also not forgetting the watch before joining Kakashi on the balcony. "I'm ready," she reported simply and they both quickly made their way to the Hokage's office, both in silence.

Tenten was not surprised when she saw there were several other people already gathered in the office. And knowing Kakashi, she knew that they were the last members of the party to arrive. Tsunade also didn't waste any of her time, quickly gathered them to brief them on the mission situation.

"I just got an urgent message from a village at the border of Fire Country. It was believed that a group of bandits had been harassing and kidnapping young girls from the village. Your task now is to find the mastermind of this criminal ring and destroy this threat," Tenten could almost guess why she was included in this mission.

"Tenten, your task is vital to this mission. You will play the bait for these bandits and lure them out of their hiding place. Kakashi, Kiba, Shino, Neji, your task is to guard Tenten in her task and destroy these punks. Make sure she returns safe and sound," it was short and simple, and the instructions were clear.

"But, Tsunade-sama why can't you send someone more experienced like Kurenai or Anko. I don't think Tenten had ever done this before, it will be too dangerous for her," Kakashi objected gently, not comfortable of the idea sending Tenten right into the enemies' lair. "I know it is dangerous. But these criminals just target teenage girls, and I believe Tenten is fully capable of defending herself. This mission will be your first undercover mission, Tenten. Good luck, and don't die," she nodded and looked at the rest of the team.

"Let's head out," Kakashi finally gave his first order, and all five of them disappeared from the spot. Tsunade exhaled and spun to face the window over viewing the whole village. "Please be safe, everyone,".

"Ne, Tenten. Don't you feel scared?" Kiba apparently feeling bored that he started to mess up with her. "No, should I?" her answer was simple, which made Kakashi silently chuckled at Kiba's irritation. "Not a little bit, at all? You could be killed in this mission," he still had not given up. "If you don't shut up at this instant, _you_ will be killed in this mission," Tenten meant it to be a joke, but it had effectively caused the Inuzuka to keep quiet. Fine, it suited her well.

Soon, Tenten understood why Kiba started to bother her. With Shino and Neji as your teammates, to expect any sort of conversation was just like expecting pigs to fly. Almost impossible. She then increased her speed to match Kakashi's who had gone a little ahead from the four of them.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei. Have you ever been in this kind of mission before?" she asked bluntly, dodging a branch in the process. "I don't know. I can't exactly remember. But as far as I remember, these bandits usually work alone. They rarely work together, so that is why this mission is far more dangerous than normal kind of undercover missions. You ought to be more careful," he replied calmly, slowing down a bit so that she can keep up with him.

Silent fell again between them until they heard Kiba shouting. "Enemies ahead! Watch out!" but his warning was too late for a rain of kunais already heading towards them. She quickly registered what was happening and sped up while everyone else had stopped. "Tenten, what are you doing?" she heard faintly Neji's worried call.

Tenten took out a scroll from her pouch and opened it, biting her thumb before sliding it along the characters in the scroll. It was time to unleash her new technique.

* * *

Thank you everyone for reading! Have a nice day =)


	6. Enter: Battlefield!

Hey there, everyone.. Sorry for the long delay! All these school stuffs really keeping me away from my computer..

I want to thank all of you for reading my story, reviewing and giving me useful tips,

even better for liking it and putting it on your favourites list and alert list.

Thank you so much!

Anyway, moving on to the chapter! Happy reading! (^^,)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto...

* * *

Tenten took out a scroll from her pouch and opened it, biting her thumb before sliding it along the characters in the scroll. It was time to unleash her new technique.

Before she had the chance to finish her hand seals, she was pulled out of the way of the barrage of kunais. She turned to look at her so-called savior. "Neji, what are you doing?" she asked in a hushed tone. He didn't answer but landed on a branch and turned on his Byakugan, his hand still lingered around her petite waist.

"Let go off me!" she pried his hand away and sent a deadly glare at his direction. "Tenten, stay put. The enemies are very dangerous, and they outnumbered all of us by the ratio 2:1," he replied calmly, still studying for the enemies movements. She looked at him in disbelieve and pursed her lips together.

"It had always been like this! I have to stay at the sidelines every time and watch your back. Damn it, Hyuuga! I can take care of myself," she snapped angrily and leapt away from him, leaving him with slightly taken aback by her words, especially when she had neglected to use of his name and called him by the name he dreaded most.

"Everyone, are you alright?" suddenly, came Kakashi's voice through the transmission radio all of them were wearing. "I guess so," she replied gingerly, trying to look around to see if the rest of her team mates were around. "Akamaru and I are super-duper," Kiba responded a second later, though she could hear that he was breathing slightly heavy.

"Good, now listen up. It seemed to me that there are at least ten enemy ninjas ahead, though we don't know what else can they do aside from using a large number of weapons," Kakashi started, knowing that Neji and Shino will mostly kept quiet and didn't reply to the radio.

"Demo, Kakashi-sensei. Those aren't normal kunais. Those kunais are lighter and faster, and infused with chakra. So, probably one of our opponents is a weapon user too," Tenten pointed out, and Kakashi kept silence for a few moments. "Very well then, we'll just meet them head-on," he finally decided.

"You mean we are going to barge into the enemies' front line and risk our necks? I don't think so!" Kiba protested, though he kept his voice volume under control. "Then, how about this? We'll split up. There's a small town right ahead of us, approximately 2 km radius. We will meet there. Kiba, you go with Shino to the left and Tenten, you will be with Neji, go to the right. Good luck everyone, and don't die!" Kakashi's voiced died down and everything went quiet again.

Half-heartedly, Tenten leapt back to the branch where Neji was standing a few minutes ago and found him sitting on it with his feet dangling off it. Apparently, he had been waiting for her judging from the triumphant smirk he wore on his face as soon as he spotted her.

"Let's head out shall we?" she said with no enthusiasm at all, pulling him by the arm. He followed her down the tree and soon he went ahead of her taking the lead. Though how much Tenten was irritated by him and wanted nothing more than bash him on the head, she couldn't risk blowing their positions to the enemies, who might be waiting to ambush them.

But Tenten knew that Neji could easily notice if there were anyone trying to ambush them, with the help of his Byakugan. It was she who got to watch out for. Kiba had his sense of smell and Shino had his bugs. The same went to Kakashi, whom she noticed have a keen sense of smell too. That left her the only one who didn't have any abilities to track an enemy.

Perhaps she was so caught up in her thoughts that she failed to notice what was behind her. It wasn't until Neji frantically shouted for her name that she realized that four enemies were jumping into her direction with swords raised high, just a few seconds away from their strikes. Neji tried to reach her but he was drawn away by another two enemies into a battle.

Tenten acted fast, pulling her kunais and flipped upwards. She managed to escape from the blades, blocking two of it with just her kunai before jumping away and landed on the ground. She wasted no time to make use of her scroll and summoned a long metal staff with chains and stood in her fighting stance. The enemies looked at each other before all of them charged at her direction in the same time.

Tenten easily blocked all of their strikes, as well as landing several hits in the process. One enemy tried to sweep her feet with the sword but she was quicker to leap and swung the staff to his face. The enemy was knocked out. Another one attempted for her torso, but she bent her body backwards before using her feet to land a kick to his face.

Another one went for her midriff again, and again she bent her body backwards before sweeping her staff at his feet, effectively knocking him to the ground. Tenten stood up again and knocked all three of the enemies on the head to make sure they were all really passed out.

Now, it only left her with one enemy. But this enemy seemed a lot dangerous than the rest of her comrades. He easily twirled his sword in one hand as his other hand reached for another sword. Tenten waited patiently, analysing his every movements closely before moving in for an attack. To her horror, he easily cut her staff into two leaving her with no useful weapon.

She threw away the staff and quickly ducked when he swung his massive sword, and she tried to kick his wrist to break it, a move taught by Lee. He flinched but other than that it appeared to her it had no effect whatsoever. No wonder since that guy was freakishly huge, even bigger than Jiraiya-sama.

Tenten retreated and went for her scroll again. This time, she leapt in mid-air and began attacking him with her signature move, the Twin Dragon Rising. But again, he easily knocked them all away with his twin swords. "Out of idea, young lady? My turn!" he laughed manically and began twirling both his sword in alternate directions. Slowly, the swords glowed bright blue and she realized that he was fusing them with chakra.

Tenten looked around her in panic as she noticed the small plants around him began to fly into the swords, but later was minced by the sharp blades. And it doesn't help that her body was moving into his direction too. Tenten tried to run away but the force pulling her to him grew stronger.

She desperately clung around a tree trunk and dug her kunai there, trying to fight her way through. The force was stronger that she was practically swept off her feet and hanging on for dear life around the tree trunk, watching in horror the man grinned almost devilish-like.

"Tenten, hang on!" she heard someone calling for her and lifted her face to see who was it. But the strong gush of wind didn't allow her to see farther than a metre. Her energy was slowly drained by hanging around the tree trunk as tight as she could. Tenten closed her eyes, on the verge of passing out.

But a few moments later she heard a cry of agony and the strong wind stopped gradually. She fell into someone's arm, but couldn't quite make it who was her knight in shining armour. Before she could thank him or anything, Tenten passed out from exhaustion, hardly noticed he carried her in his arms to the nearest town.

* * *

Her head was throbbing like mad, and her whole body was aching. "Kami-sama, what is this feeling?" she murmured and tried to get up. "You finally woke up," she heard Kiba's voice and snapped her head to her right. "Oww, that hurts!" her hand shot up to the painful spot on her neck. "Of course, silly. Your whole body was badly hurt, and you shouldn't move so quickly like that. Slow and steady wins the race," Tenten rolled her eyes. She was so not in the mood to hear him rambling now.

"How are you feeling, Tenten?" Kakashi stepped towards her and set down a glass of water on the small, dusty bedside table. "Minus the killing headache and backache, I'm perfectly fine," she said sarcastically and rubbed her temples. "It was lucky that we found you just in time, and Neji warned us not to get closer as the magnetic field around him was so strong. But you rock, Tenten! How long have you been clinging on the trunk. Look at you hands, there were all bruised and blistered," Kiba pointed out and she took a look at her hands.

True enough, they were bandaged neatly. "Who did all this?" she queried, looking at Kakashi and Kiba. "Gaara did. He went out several moments ago, but he'll be right back," she immediately shot upwards. "Gaara's here?! I thought he's in Suna!" she exclaimed in shock. "Keep it down, will you? You're too loud, Tenten," Neji suddenly called out to her from the couch, polishing his kunai.

"Well, he happened to come across. It was very fortunate because he was the only one who can defeat that enemy without going close," Kakashi explained and walked towards the door when it was knocked several times.

Tenten's attention was drawn to the door and was eager to take a look at Gaara again. Her sensei finally stepped aside to give way to Gaara after exchanging several words with the young Suna shinobi. As soon as she laid her brown eyes on him, her jaws dropped in shock. "G..Gaara! What happened to your hair??!".

* * *

What on earth could have happened to Gaara's hair? Well, let's find out in the next chapter, shall we? Till we meet again...

Thank you very much for spending time to read my story.. It would really make my day if you review too...

Please!!!!!! Have a nice, super-duper day! (^^,)


	7. Breaking Point

Hello, everyone! I deeply apologize for the long delay. I went through a rocky and bumpy course of life for the past couple of years, but now I am back on track.. I want to thank all of those who are still waiting eagerly for the update of this story.. This long chapter is atreat for you guys to..well, you know make up to it! And forgive me for the lack of quality you may found, it had been a while since the last time I have been writing... Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

Tenten's attention was drawn to the door and was eager to take a look at Gaara again. Her sensei finally stepped aside to give way to Gaara after exchanging several words with the young Suna shinobi. As soon as she laid her brown eyes on him, her jaws dropped in shock. "G..Gaara! What happened to your hair?".

Gaara nonchalantly touched his hair before stepping closer to her. "What about my hair?" he asked her back. Tenten felt uneasy to be lying down in front of him, and the rest of the team for that matter. She struggled to sit up, but his sand rushed out and pushed her back on her bed. At this point, Kiba got up and sat with the others at the couch at the other end of the room, giving them some privacy.

"You're injured," he pointed out as soon as he was right next to her, in Kiba's position earlier. His face was blank as usual, though she caught a glimpse of concern within his jade-coloured eyes.

She complied with him, and pulled her blanket up to her chin. "I never knew you are into side swept hairstyles," she chirped quietly, so that only Gaara could hear what she said. True enough, Gaara's blood red hair was swept to the left and covered the kanji on his forehead while the hair at the back of his head stuck out a bit, giving him a bad boy look.

Her bad boy, Tenten blushed at her own naughty thought. "Is it that bad?" he asked with one hand fixing the bangs that fell to his forehead. "I like it, you look so darn handsome!" she whispered more quietly, fearing that the rest of the Konoha shinobis heard what she said.

Her words a rushed shade of red appeared on Gaara's cheek before it disappeared. "I guess this is one of the rare moments I'll admit Kiba's idea is not so bad," he replied, wearing the same mischievous smirk she had on her face.

Tenten felt relieved that he had changed for the better since the first time they met, opened up even more. Then, she noticed he was wearing the silver dove pendant she gave before he left Konoha. The silver chain was securely wrapped around the belt that held his sand gourd.

"Hey, you wear it," she said excitedly, pointing at the said pendant. Gaara nodded and held her wrist, his eyes looking at the dove hanging from the watch he gave her. "I see that you still have not forgotten about me," his voice was slightly hoarse. She tried her best to nod in her current position.

There was something in his eyes that she could not understand it. It looked like he had been hiding something from her, something very important. He returned her stare, slightly puzzled with the intensity of her gaze. But Gaara would not complain, he had always loved her big, innocent pair of eyes, quite the opposite to his mysterious ones.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but your sister is waiting for you outside," Kakashi suddenly said, cutting the young couple's game of staring each other's eyes. Both of them looked up to the masked shinobi, secretly cursing him for ruining their tender moments.

However when they thought of Temari waiting impatiently outside the doorstep, they decided it would be better off to not keep her waiting for any longer. As her youngest brother, Gaara knew just how much she hated waiting. But deep down, he knew she was jealous of him because she did not have the opportunity to meet the Nara genius.

Gaara walked towards the door, and stopped to look at her before going out. "Thank you, for saving me," Tenten said slowly, forcing a smile. The Suna shinobi nodded once before bidding the other Leaf ninjas goodbye. And with that, he dispersed into tiny grains of sand and disappeared from sight.

* * *

Tenten carefully wrapped bandages around her left thigh, before later putting on her kunai pouch. Kiba looked at her in worry, all the while handing her ninja gear one by one. "Are you sure you're alright, Tenten-san? You're not fully healed yet," he said in a concerned tone, holding her katana in his right hand.

Tenten took the weapon and put it into her scroll, ignoring his words. "Tenten, he's right. Your injuries are not healed yet," for the first time ever, Shino spoke to her.

With a heavy sigh, she turned to face them. "I'm fine. Besides, I only injured my palms. Nothing too major. I'm not a shinobi for nothing, you know," she tried to move her fingers to prove to them that she was alright.

"With that palms, you're hardly able to handle a weapon. What else can you do if we are under attack?" it was Neji who finally pointed out the rationality behind their concern. But being an aspiring kunoichi, Tenten took that as an insult to her ability.

"I can take care of myself," she repeated the very words she said to him a couple of days ago. Neji narrowed his eyes at her. "You said that before, and ended up nearly got yourself killed," his voice was cold and deadly. But Tenten had long used to that kind of tone.

"It is one tiny mistake, that's it! There's no need for you to exaggerate things," she replied heatedly, her body trembled as she was trying to control her anger. Neji noticed just how much she itched to whip out her katana and cut him into four parts, while Kiba and Shino backed away after they sensed her changing aura.

"Another tiny mistake could cost our lives," Kakashi decided that it was time for him to stop the bickering. Neji smirked victoriously, while Tenten looked away pretending to finish packing all of her weapons. "Today, we will go and pay visit to several of the victims' families. So we would not be expecting any life-threatening situation," the Copy-Cat Ninja explained to his team, with the exception for Tenten who was turning her back on him.

"First stop, the Ushio family," he walked out of their inn room, with Neji, Shino and Kiba trailing behind. Unseen to any of them, Tenten was wiping tears that had begun falling from her eyes.

* * *

Ushio Tanaka and his wife welcomed them quite warmly, and served them with some tea and some dumplings. But Tenten couldn't help but notice the vast amount of sadness that dwelt in their eyes. She bowed her face down for the whole time the couple told their story, mainly because she did not want the others to see her reaction.

After hearing the recounts of what had happened to their daughter, Tenten began to felt afraid of their unseen enemy. Would she have the strength to defend herself? Would her teammates save her if anything went wrong? What if…she lost herself to them? What if…. she lost her honor to them?

"They're monsters! They have killed our daughter! She may be alive, but those demons had ripped away her soul!" the wife wailed uncontrollably, sobbing into Tanaka's shoulder. The sound of her cries was heartbreaking, and it drove Tenten nuts that she abruptly stood up and excused herself.

Kiba wanted to catch up to her, but Kakashi pulled him back. He knew Tenten would need this time alone to her thoughts only. Tenten for once felt grateful for the Hatake, and walked down the hallway of the Ushio residence away from the living room. "Tsunade-sama, are you sure I'm the right person for this?" she asked no one in particular.

Her train of thoughts was interrupted by a thud sound, coming from the room at the end of the long hallway. She took out her kunai as a reflex, and crept slowly to the door. The floor was a bit slippery, but she moved gracefully across it and soundlessly. Even if she was in a distraught state, Tenten still did not forget to watch out for enemies.

Carefully, she pulled the sliding door aside and peeked into the dim-lighted room. Her kunai fell out of her hand when she saw a young woman sitting in one corner, her knees pulled close to her chest.

The room was in a mess, a stool lay on the floor with a noose made from blanket sheets hanging over it. A table lamp was smashed and its shards scattered across the floor. Her eyes then spotted a trail of crimson-colored liquid in between the pieces of glass. It was the foul colour of blood.

"Shizuka-san?" the Ushio daughter's name slipped out from her mouth, until she noticed a large shard of glass buried in the woman's right wrist. "What are you doing?" without wasting any time, Tenten rushed across the room towards Shizuka without bothering to avoid the shards of glass and pulled out the glass.

Shizuka just stared at her blankly, not responding. Tenten took out her handkerchief and pressed it on the open wound to stop the bleeding. Even so, the blood still gushed out from Shizuka's wound. Tenten found herself began to fear for the young woman's life.

"Please don't die on me, Shizuka-san!" her voice trembled, as she tried to find any other things that can be used to stop the profuse bleeding. In the end, she had no choice. "Stay here, Shizuka-san!" she raced back to the living room, smearing the floor with Shizuka's blood that she stepped on.

"Kakashi-sensei!" she panted, and fell on all four. Her appearance caused a chaos within the living room. Neji felt his heart skipped a beat when he saw Tenten's face and hands were covered in blood. "Shizuka-san! She'd cut her wrist!" she claimed in panic, her eyes wide in terror. She was clearly lost control of her own emotions, so unlike her. Kakashi, Tanaka and the wife quickly rushed to Shizuka's room, praying that they were not too late.

Shino also got up and followed the three of them, shooting a glance at Kiba, who understood what he meant. She needed somebody to calm her down before she started to hyperventilate. The young Inuzuka went to the kunoichi and did the only thing he could think off. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in for a comforting embrace.

Usually she would have pushed him away, but this time she greatly welcomed the gesture. "Everything is going to be alright," she heard Kiba said into her hair. Tenten tightened her grip on Kiba's shoulders. He in return patted her head and caressed her back, whispering words of comfort.

Unbeknown to any of them, Neji stood by the doorway; his eyes were filled with hurt and betrayal.

* * *

After the disastrous trip to the Ushio residence, Kakashi decided to call it a day and they were back once again to their small inn room. He then had a private talk with a very shaken-looking Tenten in the kitchen, leaving Kiba, Shino and Neji hurdled together in the living room.

"I have a feeling this mission will be very dangerous," Kiba started a conversation, looking to his left and right at Shino and Neji.

"Especially for Tenten," Shino piped in casually, sitting up straight in the armchair opposite the old-looking television set.

"But she can take care of herself," Kiba replied, his hand scratching Akamaru's ears.

"Of course she can. She's strong," Shino agreed, still motionless as before. The only thing about him that seemed to be alive was the sound of his breath beneath the high collar.

"That's nonsense! She would only injure herself more in this mission. I don't know why Godaime-sama insisted on sending her on this mission," Neji suddenly snapped, causing both Kiba and Shino to look at him. Neji never raised his voice like that before, not even in a conflict situation. He was usually the level-headed person in the group who preferred to stay out of any arguments.

"You should have more faith in her, Neji," Kiba pointed out blatantly.

"Why should I? She would just hurt herself even more, thinking that she can take care of herself!" he rose to his feet, felt tired with the argument they had.

"You have fallen for her, aren't you Neji?" at Shino's words, Neji gasped slightly and fell quiet. "I've seen you've fall for her, real bad," Shino repeated his earlier statement. Neji tried to deny it, but for the first time since they started their mission, he could not find any words to defend himself.

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Yay, another chapter finished! I didn't really know how it turned out, but I really hope I did the best.. Anyway, thank you for spending your time to read..and Please Review and let me know... Have a nice day, minna-san!


	8. Emotions Unraveled

Now, to the next chapter of "Weapons from Sand". I kind of like the idea of GaaraxTentenxNeji love triangle. What do youg guys think? PLease let me know what's your opinion, thank you so much. Now,on with the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own naruto.

* * *

It was the second day of their mission, and according to Kakashi's plan they would be visiting several more victims' residence for the sake of data collecting. Ever since the talk with Kakashi last night, Tenten still had not said even a single word and she turned away when Kiba tried to tell a joke.

So in the end, the rest of their journey was filled with Kiba's unhappy grumblings to Akamaru on how he felt so unloved and neglected by everyone in the group. Shino and Neji of course paid no attention to this, and Kakashi preferred to concentrate on his favorite reading material, but Tenten was slightly guilty of it. Just a slight feeling of guilt. But she was too deep in thoughts to be bothered by the young Inuzuka.

"Here we are, the Ishikawa residence," Kakashi announced finally when they arrived at a gate that encircled quite a large compound. It resembled the Hyuuga Residence, with a long metal plate inscribed with the family name proudly stood on either sides of the gate.

A small man opened the gate and bowed to them, before inviting them inside. They were then guided through a series of complicated passages for almost five minutes to a large living room over viewing a large pond with a small bridge built across it. In the middle of the room stood a long, rectangular low table and seven small cushions arranged around it.

"Have a seat. Hoshi-sama will be joining you in a minute," the small man who had welcomed them earlier said hurriedly, and quickly left the room. All of them took their respective seats, and waited for the hosts to arrive. Tenten threw a glance at Kakashi who was sitting across from her, but then looked away and fixed her stare at the calm water of the pond outside.

"Kakashi-sensei, when are we going to actually start our mission?" Kiba asked randomly, clearly out of boredom of waiting. The silver-haired jounin halted reading, kept away his book and turned to look at Kiba. "We are doing our mission," he said seriously before folding his hands on the table.

"We haven't really meet our enemies just yet," Kiba retorted, and somehow it made Tenten felt her heart skipped a beat. Suddenly she began to fear the enemies they would be facing. 'Gaara, I'm afraid,' she thought desperately, and her right hand gripped the pendant around her watch tightly.

Neji noticed her action, and even without using his Byakugan he could clearly sense her fear. If it wasn't for Ishikawa Hoshi and his wife, Michiko entering the room, Tenten was sure she would have jumped in surprise when all out a sudden Neji reached out and hold her shaking hands in his own.

Ishikawa Hoshi was a tall man of early fifties, but his hair was already turning white. His face suggested a man of great power, but there was a tint of sadness within his sharp eyes. His wife was a pleasant-looking woman, though the smile she put up was still not enough to cover the vast amount of sorrow she was holding back.

"You must be Hatake Kakashi," he bowed slightly and sat down in his place, next to Kakashi. Michiko sat next to him, and nodded good-naturedly in Tenten's direction.

The rest of the conversation drifted away from Tenten's thought, as she was too busy thinking about Neji's action just now. His face remained stoic, and appeared to be concentrated to what Hoshi and Michiko have to say, but his hand was still holding hers, refusing to let go.

felt her heart thumped faster, growing more confused by him. She was too distraught that she failed to notice that Hoshi was addressing her. "Tenten-san?" a light squeeze on her hand snapped her out of her train of thoughts.

Everyone was looking in her direction, waiting for her respond. She laughed awkwardly to hide her true feelings and said quickly, "I'm so sorry I was not listening. What did you just say?" Hoshi raised both his eyebrows and repeated his question. "Can you really stand against these monsters on your own?". Tenten felt her smile faltered but hastily assured him.

"Don't worry! I've trained for years for these kinds of stuffs!" she sounded so awkward, even to her own ears. But Michiko was looking at her fondly. "I wished Saya-chan knew how to defend herself, that she learned the ninja arts, like you did," Tenten gulped before nodding slowly.

"I can't do this! I thought I can but I just can't!" she was totally out of control. They had never seen her acting like that before, shouting like she had lost her head. Tenten had already pulled her buns loose and sat down in a corner, her knees pulled close. "Tenten, calm down. What made you think you can't?" Kakashi was slowly squatting in front of her, all the while gesturing for the rest to leave the two of them alone.

"You've seen yourself what happened to those girls! Those people tore away their lives, their souls! And not just their lives, they've ruined the lives of their families too!" she sobbed uncontrollably, all the while desperately trying to wipe away the tears from her face. She was still trying her best to follow the Shinobi principles. But it was proved to be hard to hold back the disarray emotions she was feeling at the exact moment.

Kakashi nodded a few times, still looking at her with intent gaze. "I'm afraid of what they can do. I fear of becoming like Shizuka-san, or Sayako-san, or all the other girls that had fallen victim to them. I don't want to be a wilted flower, Kakashi-sensei. I want to be the flower, that blooms the prettiest out of all," at last, she blurted out her inner fear. Kakashi bowed his face for a moment before looking up. "You don't have to do it if you don't want. Why don't you go and have a rest? It's been a long day," he said before getting up.

"Oh, before I forgot," Tenten lifted her face at the sound of Kakashi's voice. "The most valued flowers are the toughest ones that survived the harsh winter. The prettiest flowers are not always valuable, but the most valuable flowers are always the prettiest," and with those words, he left her to her own thoughts.

Temari looked at Gaara pacing up and down with a puzzled expression. He had been doing that for the last fifteen minutes. "Gaara, what had gotten into you?" she finally couldn't stand it for any longer. Her brother spun his head to look at her but he kept on pacing up and down. "Something doesn't feel right," he replied nonchalantly. Temari set aside her fan and leaned forward. "Care to elaborate, baby brother?" the nickname she gave him earned her a deadly glare from the red-haired shinobi.

"I don't really know what is wrong," he replied hastily, but in a split second Gaara turned back to look at his sister straight in the eyes. "And one more thing, don't you ever dare call me "baby brother", again," his tone was dangerous and somehow murderous. "Or what?" Temari decided to take her chances. His youngest brother was a changed person since that incident with Naruto, so there was no need for her to get afraid of getting crushed by his sand. "Or I'll crush your precious Nara into tiny little jewels to fill in the sand clock I intended to give to you for your birthday," he replied solemnly, as usual.

Temari paused, and halted. There was no way Gaara could be serious of doing that? "You can't be serious!" she blurted out, which made her brother smirked a little. "Kankurou is right. Teasing you about that Nara Shikamaru really is…interesting," Temari's eyes widened at Gaara's sentences. "Kankurou!" Gaara decided to sit back and let all hell loose as Temari chased down the puppet master around their tiny motel room.

It had been long past midnight, and it was Neji's turn to keep watch while his team mates were having a well-deserved sleep. Kiba and Akamaru were literally sprawled across the floor, and one of his feet was rested against the wooden wall of their room, the other bent quite slightly out of the way. If it wasn't for his snoring and occasional mumbles, Kiba could pass as someone who had just jumped off the roof of a building. Shino slept next to him, since he stated that he was immune to Kiba's outrageous sleeping habits and would not be disturbed by it, _much_. He was the complete opposite for Kiba though, lying flat on his back without moving the entire time. But with those sunglasses on, there was no way of telling whether he was really asleep or not.

Kakashi was lying rather leisurely on the couch, with both his hands behind his head and his right foot was put on top of his left. And that leaves Tenten with the privilege of having the only bed in the room. She was lying with her back on them, but Neji had been spending more than enough time with her to be able to tell that she was not really asleep. "Go to sleep, Tenten. You will need energy for tomorrow," he called out in a quiet tone, not moving from his position in the armchair.

"In case you did not notice, I'm trying!" she replied in a hushed tone, still in her original position. He could sense a hint of irritation within her intonation. Her behavior puzzled her team mate, because as long as he can recall she was usually cheerful and warm towards other people, especially people like him. 'Was she worried and depressed by their mission? She seemed very sick whenever we visit a victim's house, especially after we met the victim herself,' he thought deeply, remembering Tenten's breakdown just before all of them went to bed.

After deciding that he should be playing his role as her team mate, Neji sighed lightly and get out of the armchair. He stepped calmly to her bed and without hesitation sat on her bedside, his back meeting her back. Even though no one could see it, Neji smirked when he felt her back tensed up and she suddenly drew a sharp breath.

"Get off my bed!" she whispered quite harshly, and Neji could tell that she was gritting her teeth.

"What is up with you?" he enquired, half-worried, half-teasing.

"I'm fine, trying to sleep here so back off!" Tenten exhaled heavily, telling him off again.

"You don't look fine, and certainly don't sound fine to me," he protested.

"Since when do you care?" she replied so quickly that he did not have the chance to finish his sentence.

"Allow me to remind you. Since the first day we were put on a team, remember?" he replied in a collected manner.

"If I recall you don't care about anyone but yourself," she came up with a reply.

"I believe that would be completely not true," Neji worked to make sure that he did not sound offended by her accusation.

"How about Lee then? Remember how you treated him?" Tenten had no trouble to retort back, even if it was Hyuuga Neji she was talking to.

"I'll admit it I was a fool at that time. If it wasn't for Naruto, I might still be stuck in my old ideals and believes,". For once, he actually sounded remorseful.

"Oh, it is the confession of the year! Hyuuga Neji finally admitted that he was foolish!" Tenten retorted, heavy with sarcasm.

"But that does not necessarily mean that I cared for no one else," he quickly defended himself from her attacks.

"Really? Like what?" she challenged him,

"I was the only one who cared enough to ask Gai-sensei for a break every time I see you on the verge of passing out, since you're too proud to admit that you're tired and Lee and Gai-sensei was too busy preaching about youthfulness to notice you have reached your limit," he pointed out, and for the first time in their conversation he made her speechless.

"But, that-" she stammered but Neji was quicker to ct her off.

"I was the one who cared enough to request you training with me every single time, instead of letting you go insane with Lee and Gai-sensei's eccentric behavior," Neji reminded her, even though deep down he knew that he was doing it to save his own sanity as well.

"Yeah, but-" she stammered even worse this time.

"I cared enough for you that I sacrificed myself to sleep next to Lee every time we go to missions, so that you would sleep peacefully without being kicked or punched in the guts every time he had dreams about training," he said coolly, not once turning around to look at her reaction. Why would he take the trouble of turning around, when he have the Byakugan?

"I know that, but-".

"I cared enough for you that I always wanted to finish a battle quickly whenever all of us were separated so that I can get to you to make sure that you're okay,".

"I can take care of myself, and you of all people should know that," at last she was able to defend herself.

"You kept saying that, but you always end up injured. I...I can't stand looking you getting hurt," Neji admitted slowly, as it took him great courage to do so. Tenten was surprised by his words, and took her even longer to process the words.

"I appreciate that, but I need you to have faith in me, not treating me like I'm a baby. I'm a Konoha shinobi, in case you have forgotten," after a while, she answered quietly, even quieter than before.

"Tenten, I don't think you get my point-," he started again but never got the chance to do so.

"Yes, I do. I'll prove to you that I can take care of myself, complete this mission, and only then perhaps you will stop treating me like a kid." her tone suggested that their conversation should end there.

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Well, that's it for now. I'll try to update as soon as I can.

Thank you for reading, everyone. Please review. I wish all of you have a nice day!


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